Building purchases may need to be sold to Finance Committee first

Among those groups the town’s Facilities Implementation and Strategic Planning Committee (FISP) may need a sales strategy for before purchasing a town hall is the Finance Committee.

FISP, the town’s latest incarnation of a building committee, was told last week by member Ray Bricault that it does not have the full support of the board that serves as the town’s fiscal watchdog.

Bricault, a member of the Finance Committee who was added to the building committee as a liaison, said the Finance Committee’s first vote on the proposal to purchase the Three Rivers Building on Worcester Street was split, and that not all members were present for the vote.

More importantly, the vote was in regards to The Three Rivers Building only. The building committee is proposing buying two buildings; Three Rivers and the Bethlehem Bible Church on Lancaster Street.

The church would be used for a senior center and community center, and possibly some town functions that have yet to be decided, but have overlapping responsibilities to the building’s core function as a community center, likes Parks and Recreation or the veterans’ agent office.

Bricault suggested the building group reach out to the Finance Committee and explain the proposal before presenting plans to voters.

“We need to have a clear statement from the Finance Committee so we are not blindsided,” Bricault said. “If you want that support, we need to include them in the process somewhere.”

It would not be the first time the Finance Committee has opposed the purchase of a building. In 2009, two attempts to purchase the manufacturing business at 150 Hartwell St. were opposed by the Finance Committee before then being defeated by voters.

Prior to the first vote, presented at the spring town meeting, Finance Committee members cited a lack of information. After supporters brought the matter to a special town meeting in August by way of a citizens’ petition, the committee said some of its questions had been answered, but members questioned the rationale of the town owning property when it had no long-term maintenance plan in place.

The town has since created an account for routine maintenance issues. But, that may not be enough.

Bricault did not include the church in his presentation to the Finance Committee because, he told FISP members last week, he is not convinced the town needs to purchase the church.

While Bricault has missed some FISP meetings, he has been involved with the committee discussions and toured the church in January.

“I’m not sold on it,” he said. “Certainly, I’m not able to sell that (a favorable) position to somebody else.”

Other FISP members contend, however, that the Three Rivers Building is insufficient to be a town hall and a senior center.

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